Sweetest Karma
by biffan
Summary: High school AU. When a new girl moves to Dean Winchester's school, he falls head over heels and decides to get close to her by befriending her brother, Castiel. However, things get more complicated when he realizes that he might have feelings for Cas that are beyond their little friendship and are not part of Dean's ulterior motive.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello! Although I'm not a huge fan of high school AUs, I find that they're fun to write. Please enjoy this one I decided to start on whim as a contribution to the destiel part of the archive.

* * *

_"Dad, when's mom coming back from work?" asked his sister impatiently._

_"The traffic is really bad over there, so I don't know when."_

_"But I need help with my homework!" said his brother_

_"Daddy's busy right now. Go ask one of your brother's to help you... Cas, will you help him?"_

_"Yes, what do you need help with?"_

_"Math, but mom is better at helping me with it..."_

His sleepy eyes opened and his first question of the day was why he had decided to replay that memory out of all of the ones he could choose from.

* * *

Monday 26th of August

School was a bore to many students, but no one felt it as tedious as Dean Winchester. As he glanced down at his new time table, Dean sighed because he would have to go through another year of misery and things he didn't care about. Since his dad had persuaded him to take at least another year before dropping out, it would seem that he would have to endure this one with whatever patience he had left.

Liberton High School, unchanged as ever, was full of predictable outcomes. But he couldn't predict the girl who walked into his path that day.

Unanticipated and dream-like, a girl with red hair came up to him out of what seemed like nowhere. This took him by surprise since he was too busy reading his time table to look where he was going. Dean had never seen her before, but she was cute and his attraction towards her was growing the longer he looked at her face. Her lovely face that demolished the filter in his brain.

"Heaven must be missing an angel." he said.

"I've heard that one before." the girl replied. She had a nice smile, he thought. Teeth that reminded him somewhat of Freddie Mercury... _God, no. What a terrible comparison._ Her teeth were like white pearls. _Better._

"No doubt you have. Though, I don't think I've seen you before."

"That's because I'm new," the girl answered. "I was about to ask where I could get one of those." She pointed at the time table in his hand.

"Weren't you issued one before the start of term?" he inquired. Then a little half smile. "Or is this an excuse to talk to me?"

He had really gone over his head now, but the new student didn't seem to mind. She laughed a little at his flirty nature and continued.

"Mine was stolen," she explained.

"Oh, I see," Dean didn't press for details even though he was curious as to why would someone steal another person's time table. "Reception is to the right of the stairs which is just down the hall. They'll give you another one."

"Thanks," She outstretched her hand. "My name is Anna, by the way."

"Dean." He shook her hand, her fingers feeling small and light. "My locker is that way too, so, mind if I walk with you?"

"Of course not."

They walked to reception, and while they waited for Anna's new time table to print out, they talked. It turns out that she moved to this school because of her dad's new job. He was a writer, but his books were failing, so he found a job in a publishing firm. Dean mentioned that his dad was a mechanic, to which he added that he was going to follow that career path as well.

The receptionist handed Anna both a locker key and her newly printed time table. Dean had a glance at the latter and his eyebrows raised.

"You're a senior?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. Are you?"

"I'm a junior." He put his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, I thought you were too."

"That's alright. To be honest, you look like senior yourself." she replied.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Anna continued to read what classes she had today and frowned. "I have no idea where any of these rooms are." she sighed.

"Well, you'll get the hang of it. Rooms that are numbered below a hundred are on the ground floor, rooms numbered 100 - 199 are on the second floor and the rest is on the top floor." Dean explained.

"Again, thank you." she said. "It was nice to meet you."

"Same here."

Dean wished her luck as she went her own way to her find her locker. On his way to his own locker, he thought about Anna and cursed that, being in the year above him, she wouldn't be in any of his classes. Her voice still chimed in his head, though, and he craved to hear it again.

He found Benny waiting at his locker, probably with news about his summer. A summer, Dean guessed, was spent indoors.

"Didn't think you'd be coming back this year," he said as he stopped leaning against the pillar.

"Well, you know me. Can't get enough of this place." replied Dean jokingly.

Benny played football on the school's team and hated just about every member on it. He was fast when it came to picking up rumors. Dean hated rumors, particularly about himself, but being friends with Benny meant he could find out things on a need-to-know basis.

"Saw you with new girl a few minutes ago." Benny commented.

"Do you know her?" asked Dean.

"Nah, but I know she isn't the only one, though. Her brother's moving into our year."

"She didn't mention she had a brother." Not that she needed to mention it, but if the conversation about their families had continued, he probably would have found out.

"My sources ain't wrong." Benny confirmed.

"Do you know his name?"

"No, but were gonna to find out since he's in our English class anyway. Which is... now, actually." he said while checking his pocket scrunched time table.

"Excited to find someone new to pick on?"

"You'd just tell me to quit picking on him. Since you're pretty smitten with his sis, I take it."

"Well, your right about me wanting to see more of her..." He gave Benny a push for grinning too much. "Not in that way, you pervert. I mean, I'd like to hang out with her. So picking on her little brother isn't going to get her to like me."

"Hey, you never know. You might be pals with him and then have an excuse to go over to her place." Benny suggested.  
"Speaking of which, how is your little brother? Kid's getting tall."

"Sammy's fine. He was actually pretty happy about going back to school. I swear, he gets a kind of high or something when he opens a new textbook."

"Well, we can't all be as enthusiastic about this dump, right?" said Benny. The bell was almost about to ring and commence the first class of another insufferable year.

This year, their new teacher would be Ms. Blake. Who, as far as teachers go, was one of the most tolerable of the school's staff. Dean was certainly glad he didn't end up with any of the less tolerable teachers in the English department, as most of them still held a grudge against him.

So, the two of them headed to class. Being careful to avoid Meg Masters in the hallway and sighing with relief as she passed the class room door, because this meant that she wouldn't be in their class this year. Dean didn't even want to think about last year's English class when Meg Masters sat in front of him and caused all kinds of problems. They sat down at the back of the class and saved a seat for Jo when she came back from her holiday in Europe. Ms Blake began with a welcome back speech and Dean could already feel the slow disappearance of his good mood.

Ten minutes into the lesson, but the anticipated new student hadn't shown up yet. As Ms. Blake droned on, Dean began to wonder if Benny was wrong and that he wasn't even in his class. However, he was proved corrected when the door opened and revealed the brother of Anna.

"Yes?" said Ms. Blake. In the way Dean was seated at the back of the class, he could only make out the top of the new student's head, who had black hair.

"Um, It says on my time table that I'm in this class." said the student. His voice was quite deep had a kind of gravely sound to it.

"Ah, you're the new student that I was told would be joining our class. You're a little late, though. What's your name?" asked the teacher.

"Castiel."

Did Dean hear that correctly, or did the new kid just mispronounce his own name? _Castiel..._

"Nice name." she commented, though it was unclear if this was sarcasm.

"Thank you."

"We don't have any available desks for you at the moment, but since Jo isn't back from her holiday yet, you can take her's for now."

_Crap._ Dean's desk was right next to Jo's which meant the new guy had to sit next to him. He could see his face now as the new student made his way towards the desk. Squintish eyes and straight nose. Benny, to his left, repressed a laugh at how convenient the seating plan was.

The teacher picked up on where they left off, explaining to Castiel what it was they were learning. After that, she told the class to copy the notes she had written on the board about drama terminology. _I've got more chance of surviving a 40ft drop than remembering this stuff._ Castiel pulled out a notebook and a pencil from his bag. Mildly impressed that he came prepared on his first day, Dean leaned over slightly to talk to him.

"Got a pen I could borrow?" he asked. Then that was the first time that Castiel looked at him, and Dean thought it was a little unnerving. Castiel went through his bag and procured one from his pencil case then handed it to Dean.

"Thanks," He took the pen and laid it next to his own notebook. "You know, I met your sister in the hallway. She's nice."

"Oh," he replied. "Yeah, she is nice. I suppose she'll make friends fast here."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you'll make friends here in no time, too." Dean said. He should probably start writing down the notes on the board, but he'd rather make conversation with the new addition to the class. "Castiel is kind of an uncommon name."

"I like it. Though, my family is known for uncommon names." he remarked.

"Really? I think Anna is pretty common name, if you ask me."

"Well then, I guess she's the exception to the rule." said Castiel amusingly. They both began to write the words on the board then Dean spoke up again.

"I've got a brother. And my dad. Neither of them have cool names, though."

"Are you implying that not only is my name uncommon.. it's cool?" he asked while squinting. _I wonder if he does that a lot._

"Well... yeah, I suppose it is cool." Dean admitted.

"Thanks," Castiel took a glance at Dean's notes. "Uh, you misspelled 'soliloquy', by the way."

Unlikely. How could he have misspelled something that the teacher had already written down? But upon closer inspection, he realized that Castiel was right. That was a little bit embarrassing. He didn't talk to Castiel for the rest of the lesson.

There was something that Benny said which stuck at the back of Dean's mind. If he could become friends with Castiel, maybe he could be closer with Anna. From the moment he saw her, he couldn't get her out of his head. She was pretty and had an adorable smile that would make anyone melt in her hands. He could see himself with her.

It wouldn't hurt to be pals with her brother.

* * *

Was it true that he would be able to make friends easily in this place? Castiel was home schooled up to the 6th grade and didn't have many friends in the school before this one. The only person he could call his best friend was his foster brother, Balthazar. Though even then, he didn't think that counted. His sister, Anna, was a great friend too, but she wasn't always there all the time. Other than his siblings, Castiel had never made any other friends. Maybe now was time to do so and since this was a new school, no one new what he was like. He could be anyone he wanted to be! Not just the shy kid who always tried to do what he was told.

His next class, Maths went well and was easy enough to pick up on, but the dark haired girl who was eyeing him up like a meal behind his seat unsettled him a little bit. He didn't talk to anyone or find someone who would make a potential friend, though he eventually concluded that the first day of starting a new school might be too early to start making friends. But who knows?

After a double period of history, it seemed that he would spend lunch with Balthazar like last year. Castiel looked for his brother who had already found a table near the vending machine.

"You look a little depressed," said Balthazar as Cas took a seat. "Was history really that bad?"

"How did you find it?"

"I was about to fall asleep," he replied. "I don't remember history being that boring. It's clear that you're upset about something, though."

Castiel didn't reply and took out his packed lunch, a peanut butter and chocolate spread sandwich on brown bread. It was made sloppy, but tasted better than it looked.

"Made it yourself?" asked Balthazar. He bought his own lunch.

"I miss the way she makes them," he said as he took a bite.

"Well, there's no use getting sentimental about it," said Balthazar in a dismayed tone. "I don't think I could bring myself to eat one just yet."

Not far from where Cas was sitting, he could see the guy who asked to borrow a pen from him earlier, sitting at his own table with his small group of friends and... well of course she would be there. Standing next to Dean was Anna. And for a brief moment, the pen borrower and Castiel's eyes met but then averted as she was talking.

"Looks like someone's making new friends." Balthazar commented when he noticed the direction Cas was looking in. But Cas just looked down at his sandwich again, away from the attention that his sister was getting. "Oh, I see. Were you hoping to make new friends as well?"

"Don't take it as offence." said Cas.

"No, I completely agree. You really need get more friends."

"Okay, now you're offending me."

"How about you join Anna and her new found clique over there?"

Cas took a look at the small group again and wondered if he could ever find a place among there. But if he left to go and introduce himself, Balthazar would be eating lunch alone. He picked up on this straight away and pointed it out.

"Don't worry about little old me, I've had my fair share of eating lunches alone before you even stopped home schooling."

"Sure you don't want to come along?" asked Cas. But Balthazar just rolled his eyes which meant it was something he'd rather not do, so Castiel went without him.

_I feel nauseous already._ He approached the table with slight hesitation then Anna, who was sitting down now, spotted him and smiled while Castiel felt the other pairs of eyes look at him.

"This is my brother, Castiel." she announced. "I believe you and Dean have already met."

His name was Dean? It was the student who thought his name was cool. He gave a slight nod to Dean and then looked at his other friends who were probably waiting for him to say something.

"...Hello."

"Castiel, right?" asked one of them. A boy whose hair fell over his eyes. "Do you like the school so far?"

"Yeah, it's... a lot bigger than my old school." he replied. Perhaps his 'people skills' weren't all that rusty after all.

"Come sit with us, if you like. Anna was just telling us that she was in ballet." said another one. A red haired girl, like his sister.

"Okay."

He sat opposite Anna and next to the other girl who invited him. His sister continued with her ballet story and the six of them listened in. It was true that Anna had taken ballet lessons, but stopped before the summer. Although, it was nice to hear her still talk about it though, Cas thought. His family had given up a lot of things before the move...

"Cas himself took tae kwon do lessons for a few months." said Anna. This brought Castiel out of his daydream and into the horror that was half a dozen people looking at him.

"Really? That sounds so cool!" said another.

"I didn't really enjoy it that much." he replied. Cas's experience with people picking on him usually ended with them being injured due to underestimating his skill in hand to hand combat. Needless to say, he wasn't a stranger to landing himself in trouble at school, even if it was accidental. People didn't bother him much after that, but he supposed that was the reason why he didn't have many friends.

The conversation moved on to other things and Castiel was eventually introduced to everyone at the table. The red haired girl was called Charlie and the boy with the hair over his eyes was called Sam, who happened to be Dean's younger brother in his sophmore year. The one in the hat was called Benny and the other at the end of the table was called Garth.

They talked about things that Cas didn't know the context of yet. For example, people in they knew in school, teachers, television, family, music... It was only natural that Cas felt a little left out, but Anna managed to keep up with the topics of conversation a lot better that he did and she was just as new as him. He contemplated about rejoining Balthazar and spending the rest of his lunch with him, but he was determined to make some new friends this year. He stayed put, but not really listening to their words.

_"Are you nervous?" she asked him. Cas nodded. "Well don't be. Going to school is just like being home schooled except lots of people will be learning there too."_

_"I know what school's like, mom." he replied putting his lunch in his bag. "Gabriel told me."_

_"Is that so? Well whatever Gabriel told you, it's probably not true" she answered. He should have known better than to listen to his older brother's tall tales about school._

_"Not even the aquarium?" he asked. His mother laughed._

_"You watch tv, yeah?" she said. Cas nodded again. "Well, the schools on tv are a little like that, except a lot more learning is done. And done worry, you'll make friends. Maybe not on the first day, but one day you will."_

When the bell rang at the end of lunch, he was at his locker to put away a new text book he'd received in history. What he didn't expect was Dean walking towards him, returning the pen that he borrowed from Castiel earlier.

"Thought you might need this." he said.

"Thanks."

Cas opened his bag to put the pen inside while Dean leaned against another locker, arms folded. _Is he wanting to talk to me?_ He remembered to put his locker key in the front pocket of his bag so he wouldn't lose it.

"You don't say much, do you?" said Dean.

"I'm... sorry?" So what if he had nothing talk about? It wasn't like they were eager to include him in discussions anyway.

"What do you have next period?" he asked.

"Biology." Cas replied. _I think..._

"Room 114?"

Cas pulled out his time table. "Uh... yes."

"Your in the same class as me then," Dean smiled and hit Cas lightly on the shoulders. "Let's go."

When Castiel talked with Dean as on their way to class, he didn't feel the pressure of trying to impress him or worry that he might think he was boring. Dean was full of humor and treated Cas like he'd known him all his life. It was funny because the only people who acted like that around him were his family.

So it was a little refreshing to be treated like that from someone he had only just met that day.

"Anna mentioned that you moved here because of your dad's new job." said Dean. True. _More or less._

"Yeah."

"Is she your only sister?"

"Um, no. I have a lot of siblings, actually." mentioned Cas.

"How many?" Dean asked, now more curious.

"Would you believe me if I told you?" said Cas.

"Try me."

"Fourteen brothers and sisters."

"Holy crap," Dean exclaimed. Cas was somewhat pleased with his astonished reaction. "Your kidding."

"No, I'm serious. Including Anna, there's fourteen of us." he confirmed. Dean gave an incredulous look.

"Talk about Cheaper by the Dozen."

"I've never seen that movie."

"I wouldn't recommend it." he said. "So go on, how crazy is your family?"

"More than you know." Cas scoffed.

* * *

In biology, there were three seats to each lab table so Dean and Castiel chose the one to the back of the class. They talked some more as the classroom was filling up with students. Dean was interested in why Castiel had taken the class and it turns out that biology was his favorite subject. The mysteries of life and all that shit. _At least you didn't take it because you thought it would be easy and everything else bores you._

Dean thought Castiel would be a great friend. He wasn't afraid to admit it. He was a little shy, but Dean believed that he could bring him out of his shell, even though he was only trying to be friends with him to get to know Anna better. Their conversation was short lived when a demon dumped her school bag on the table.

"Hi, Meg." Dean greeted her sarcastically. "I was getting hopeful that you wouldn't be coming back this year."

"Aw, looks like your dreams have been shattered once again, Dean." she replied. Round faced Meg with the scary demeanor and the nasty attitude. He never understood why it was always the short people who got on his nerves the most.

"Why don't you go find another table?" he suggested.

"And be all by myself? Nah, I'd rather sit with my favorite classmate and this delicious new addition to our school over here," She looked at Castiel who was taken aback at the comment. She sat down in the vacant seat to his right and introduced herself. "Meg Masters."

"He's not interested." Dean contributed who was on Castiel's left.

"What, he's not allowed to make friends? At least I should know his name." she said.

"It's Castiel," he said. "My name."

"Well, Castiel, looks like were going to have fun, won't we?"

Mr. Turret, the Biology teacher, handed out sheets with the course objectives for this year. Meg passed one to Cas, but delibiratly didn't hand one to Dean. _Wow._ Throughout the period, Meg was talking away with Cas. Dean didn't know why it bothered him, but it did. He can make his own friends, can't he? Maybe it was because he was worried that Meg would be a bad influence on him.

"Mr. Winchester, I didn't expect to see you in my class again." said the teacher as he passed their table. _Well, sorry to disappoint._ "You barely scraped a pass in your last exam before the summer. Therefore, I recommended you'd take a class that was more to your forte."

"Well, what can I say. I just... love Biology." he replied with the most credible smile he could manage, but Mr. Turret didn't buy it. He shook his head and went to the next table.

"Academic troubles, Dean?" Meg jutted from behind Castiel.

"No! And that's none of your business, anyway." he replied. Meg's harassment would drive him up the wall before the end.

"Just curious, but why did you take biology, Meg?" asked Castiel.

"I know what I'm good at and I pursue it." was her short reply. Her proximity with Cas was marginally closer now. He was a little uncomfortable with this so leaned to the left, however, this meant he was leaning closer to Dean who had about enough of these two.

The attention Meg was giving Cas wasn't going to be as sweet if she started spreading lies about him. But Dean didn't fret over it because it was the first day of a long year. Who knew what to expect from it? Castiel, ever the small talker, tried to include Dean into he and Meg's conversations, a gold sign for Dean that meant getting this friendship to spark would be a snap.

* * *

AN: It's probably not much so far, but further chapters are already being written.  
Reviews are much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Boom. Here it is.

* * *

Friday 30th of August

The Shurley's were not a rich family. Although their house was large and inhabited with many people, their financial situation was by no means on top. Nearly all of the Shurley children shared bedrooms and Castiel was one of them. He shared a bedroom with Balthazar and his younger brother, Samandriel, whom everyone referred to as Alfie.

The rest of the afternoon after school, he was in his bedroom trying to hone his skill in texting quickly. Meg had given him her phone number, and shortly after that, so did Dean. His first week hadn't been at all lonely and he began to assume that maybe his new found friends would be the best he had never known.

"You're so lucky that you've found friends so quickly. I had to leave all mine behind." Alfie commented. Cas had almost forgot his eleven year old brother was in the room. He was drawing as usual. The slanted ceiling of their bedroom was nearly covered in his colored pencil drawings, the best ones next to his bed. He had even drawn pictures of Cas which were kept on his dresser. As far as brothers go, Cas thought, Alfie was the sweetest.

"You will too, eventually." was all that Cas could say in reply. His phone chimed annoyingly which meant Meg had got his text. Her message read:

¦ pff im rly bored 2.  
¦ PS. i think winchester might have some sort of man crush on u or something, hes rly trying 2 get ur attention lol

Cas was already typing the reply:

¦ I' m almost cetrain he has a crush on my sister thoguh.  
¦ *certain  
¦ *though  
¦ He doesn't really make an effort to hide it .

Sent. Meg's reply only took a few seconds to reach him.

¦ yea but do U like him? ;) u even gay?  
¦ it's totes fine if u r, just wondering..

¦ I dont know nor care. I am pretty much indifretn to sexual orientation.  
¦ *indiferent  
¦ Me and Dean ? I can only see us as being friends.

¦ whatevs  
¦ u text like my dad, u know that?

¦ Lol. (Am I using that right?)

¦ haha further proves my point

¦ Why don't you get along with Dean?

¦ cause he's a nerd or i dunno. we just don't like eachother

¦ Oh ok.

¦ must b tough 4 u being friends with both of us. Xp

"Do you know when dinner is?" asked Alfie.

"It's only half past four." Cas pointed out as he looked at the time on his phone. "Did you eat lunch today?" His little brother shook his head and Cas sighed. "I still have a chocolate bar I was saving for later, but I guess you can have it." he said. At the mention of chocolate, Alfie's face lit up. Cas loved to see him smile, so that was worth more than any old chocolate bar. The phone chimed again.

¦ btw, i was wondering if u want 2 go 2 burger king tomorrow. i'll invite dean if u want. and mayb sam cause he kinda a cutie  
¦ what do u say?

¦ Yeah of course I'll go .  
¦ It's the burger king outside of Lawrence, right?

¦ the very same :)  
¦ how does 1:15 sound?

¦ Excelnet  
¦ *Excelent

¦ c u then! xxx

Sometimes he just didn't get Meg. She came across as forward and menacing, but was genuinely nice to Castiel. Biology was fun when she was around and her little quarrels with Dean were amusing. If he was to make any friends, he would be glad that she was one of them.

Then there was Dean who had something that Meg lacked, but Cas couldn't quite place it. Consideration? Kindness? No, the word for it hadn't appeared in his mind yet. He was a good friend also, Cas concluded. Anna might not see it yet, but Dean had completely fallen for her over the past week, unmistakable by how he would always talk about her. Cas never even wondered if he would ever fall for someone one day. Love was definitely not his area, he had decided that years ago.

A sigh came form Alfie, "It sounds like they're fighting again." Cas discovered that he was right when he heard two voices having a bickering match downstairs, one male and another female. Everyone knew whose voices they belonged to. She'll lose like usual then storm to her room because he was being unfair. Oh, Anna, when will you learn that not everything under this roof is fair? She wouldn't be the first Shurley to disagree with their father, but Castiel worried that history would repeat itself if she didn't make amends with him.

"Can I see your drawing?" Cas asked Alfie.

"Nope, not until it's finished." he answered without looking at Cas or stopping his pencil.

"One day, I'll draw a picture of you and say the same thing."

"I'd like to see you try. Your drawings are terrible!"

* * *

¦ hey dweeb, can u come 2 burger king 2morrow? i invited our little biology friend.

¦ castiel?

¦ yea i needed 2 invite u so it doesnt look like a d8 or anything. u can bring sam if u want

¦ why not a date? I'm sure he'd love to share some fries with the spawn of satan.

¦ fuck u winchester  
¦ so are u going or not?

¦ sure. and yeah I'll bring sam along to reinforce the fact that it's 'not a date'.

¦ 1:15  
¦ don't keep me waiting

For Cas's sake, Dean would go to Burger King with them tomorrow. He wasn't heartless enough to leave him alone with she-demon, even if he only cared for him up to a certain extent.

"Hey, Sam. Are you free tomorrow?" he yelled, hoping that his voice would carry to the bedroom opposite his.

"Yeah, why?" Sam yelled back. And so Dean told him of the fast food plans that were made for tomorrow at 1:15. Sam agreed to go on the condition that Dean would stop using his laptop for the weekend. It was getting annoying.

Sorted. It had been months since Dean had gone to Burger King anyway. And he needed to celebrate surviving the first week of school. _One week down, another million to go. _Did Cas even like fast food? he thought. There was so much about that guy that Dean couldn't even begin to cover, but then he remembered that he didn't care.

* * *

Saturday 31st of August

The final days of Summer were coming to a close. Since Meg had her driving licence confiscated for about two months now, this meant that Dean had to drive to her place to bring her to Burger King. Sam, who was sitting shotgun, found her presence behind him uncomfortable, especially when she leaned her head against the back of the seat. He nearly jumped when she replied to something that Dean said because her drawling voice was so close to his head. _This is the first and last time that I am driving her anywhere,_ Dean thought. Why did Meg have to be such a joyrider? She better get her licence back soon.

Was that Castiel's car? Dean wondered as he saw him in the parking lot near one, but he then realized that someone else had drove him there. Cas closed the passenger door and spotted Dean's Car, the distinctive Chevy Impala his dad had bought in the seventies, and waved hesitantly.

"What a dork." Meg commented. "An adorable one, though."

Dean parked the car and they all got out to greet him. The blue sleeves of his hoodie were covered over Cas's hands like he was nervous or shy. '_Adorable',_ Dean quoted. The person who drove the car said something to Cas through the open window that Dean wasn't able to hear properly then drove away.

"Can't drive yet?" asked Meg. He pulled the sleeves over his hands even more so.

"I'll be learning to in October. My brother's going to teach me." said Cas.

"Cool. Which one?" asked Dean.

"My foster brother, Raphael. He was the one who dropped me off."

So that's who it was. Dean knew the Shurley's were a foster family when Cas explained his relation to Balthazar, the other new student in their year. It also explained why Balthazar spoke with an English accent when Anna's family was American, and why Raphael was black when her family were also white.

"Shall we go inside?" Sam suggested.

In the week that Anna and Castiel Shurley had joined Liberton High, Dean had come to known them a little better. For example, Anna was allergic to nuts which is why she turned down that snickers Dean offered her at Wednesday lunch time. She used Herbal Essences when washing her hair, mentioned when Dean commented on how shiny it looked. Her favorite color was turquoise which is why she wore a shirt of the same color.

Even though he didn't really want to know... well, anything about Castiel, Bits of information about him would always fly off the walls whenever they talked about something. For instance, he didn't like olives, he had a pet goldfish when he was nine, reading was one of his favorite pastimes, his eyes were blue, etc...

Funny. Dean could remember the color of Castiel's eyes, but not those of Anna's. He tried to picture them now, but the color didn't form in his mind.

"...I didn't tell her, obviously, but when she asked, all I had to say was: 'The shirt don't lie, Mrs. Fonce. Maybe you ought to get one.'" As Meg delivered the punchline of her story, there was a round of laughs from Sam and Cas. It was about Thursday when Meg wore a tee shirt that said 'bad b*tch' on it and landed her in her umpteenth detention. "Cheer up, Losechester, I'll get you one too, if you like."

"I'll wear it with pride," joked Dean. Meg's story was funny, it's just that he was in a daydream. His burger was already half finished while everyone else had just started eating. _Oops, better pace myself._ "That looks good. What did you order, Cas?" he asked.

"Just a cheeseburger. They're my favorite." Cas said with a smile. It happened again, Dean thought. He was learning more about him like his favorite foods. _And since when did I start calling him Cas?_

Meg, who was a painfully slow eater, had ordered 10 chicken nuggets with fries and Dean was pretty sure that this was to prolong their stay in this joint so she could hang out with Castiel for longer. Or maybe she hoped that Sam and Dean would get tired waiting for her to finish and leave, making sure that Cas and her were all alone? Well, any chance to annoy Meg he got, he wouldn't pass up. Bring on the group conversations!

Overall, they spent an hour there and the topics just kept going.

"...pfff! Wait, you did what?"

"I swear, he was only gone for about five minutes before I realized that the doll was deflating and the cake was turning rock solid! So I thought I knew how to fix the situation by..."

It was fun, Dean would give it that. The group of four were laughing at each other's stories long after they had finished eating, but eventually, they knew it was time to go home. Sam and Meg went to the bathroom which meant Dean and Cas were alone. _Convenient. Now I can advance Project Anna._

"I was just wondering," he began. "How close are you with Anna?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" asked Cas.

"Well, I mean as siblings, is she one of your closest?"

"Yeah, besides Balthazar, I get along the best with her." he said after some thought. "Why?"

"Well... I'm thinking about asking her out." There. Dean admitted it. Now to brace himself for Cas's reaction.

"Oh... okay." was Castiel's reply. There was a short pause of looking at each other.

"Okay?" Dean repeated.

"It's kind of obvious that you like her." explained Cas. He put his hands in his pockets. "Were you going to ask if there was something I could do something about it?"

"I was going to ask if you could... you know, throw in a word to her about that? It doesn't have to be much, just mention how cool a guy I am, or something..." he suggested.

"Dean."

"Maybe even ask what she thinks of me. Like, 'Anna, do you think Dean Winchester is attractive?' Nah, that's too forward..."

"I should point out that-"

"Or maybe the forward approach is the best one? Maybe you could say something like: 'Dean thinks you're really beautiful." That would flatter her, and everyone knows that flattery gets you everywhere. Well, maybe not everywhere. I don't think-"

"Dean!"

"What?"

"Anna has a boyfriend." said Cas, and Dean stopped rambling immediately.

_Oh._

"He lives in Kansas City. Where we used to go to school..." Cas continued. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," lied Dean. There was something making it's way up his throat that he was pretty sure was something despair. Or vomit. "What's his name?"

"Eli." answered Cas.

Ugh, why did he have to ask for the name if it was only going to make him feel worse? _Eli._ His heart felt like it was a mile below his stomach, but he wouldn't give in to sadness. He couldn't.

"Well, let's be real. Long distance relationships never last, do they? Anna will break up with him eventually and then I'll be free to ask her out. Perfect." Optimism didn't suit Dean when he was upset. That they both knew. Castiel gave a piteous look but tried to be consoling.

"Don't lose hope, Dean. If Anna were single, I'm sure she would consider dating you." he said.

"Thanks, Cas." said Dean.

Sam came back from the bathroom first, then Meg. They talked some more in the parking lot before Raphael came to pick Castiel up.

"I guess I'll see you guys on Monday." he said.

"See ya, dork." said Meg. He got in the car and his older brother drove away.

Dean appreciated Castiel's support when they were talking about Anna. When he thanked Cas for telling him not to give up hope, he truly meant it. Dean wasn't going to give up just because she was seeing someone else. He was going to try and be better than this Eli from Kansas town. Be what Anna's ever wanted in a guy. And he was going to use Cas to help him.

The trip back to Meg's apartment was quiet as expected. As Meg blew a kiss to the Winchesters while she was on the doorstep, Dean caught it with his hand and then made a gun firing motion with his other hand at it. This made her cackle and she said her goodbye before going inside. _If that's what her laugh always sounds like, I don't want to hear her laugh again,_ Dean concluded.

"Can I drive this time?" asked Sam.

"Heh, maybe next year, dude." he replied as they got in the car.

* * *

Dinner. _Either the most boring or exciting thing in this household. There's no in between,_ Castiel confirmed. When a family of sixteen dine together, there's bound to be noise. Well, technically it was fifteen since an older brother had left home. As usual, Castiel was seated in between Anna and Balthazar. The oldest siblings sat closest to their father, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and so on. The youngest of them sat at the opposite end of the table, where they could wreck havoc in peace. The baby, in her high chair, being fed by an older sibling.

Chinese again? Cas looked at his portion of take away food and decided not to complain. Complaining isn't going to help, he decided. The children were already making some noise and the older ones were starting to converse. An opportunity to talk to his older sister.

"Anna," he began.

"Yes?"

"Do you still keep in touch with Eli?" he asked after reaching for the sauce.

"Yeah, we hung out last week, remember?" she replied.

"Oh, yeah." he said with a small fake laugh. "Would you say that he's 'the one'?"

"Well, when you put it that way... mm.. I don't know, to be honest. It's true that me and him have been dating for a long time, but I don't think we're quite 'there' yet." she responded.

"I see. So you wouldn't consider dating anyone in our new school, then?"

"What, and cheat on him? No!" she exclaimed. "Why? Do you know someone that wants to date me?"

"I'm available, in case anyone wants to date me." inputted Balthazar from over Cas's shoulders.

"Weirdo. Even if we're not related, you can forget about it." scoffed Anna.

The conversation was lost from there. Good, because Castiel was worried he would give Dean away by telling Anna that there was someone in school who had a crush on her. The aromatic duck he was eating was really tasteless, he just noticed. _Nice going, Dad. I thought we told you not to go to that place for food anymore. _He looked over to where he and Micheal were talking and guessed the topic was about his job in the Army. He was only twenty-one, but Michael was a soldier working in Iraq and he was home for four months before he would be sent back there. He was the eldest of the Shurley children and the most obedient to his father. _Though he'd rather call it loyalty than obedience._

Gabriel, the infamous class clown of the family, was unemployed. So whenever the topic work came up at the dinner table, his father would always have a go at him saying how convenient it would be for him to get a job. Instead of listening to him, he would zone out, or in this case, fling food at his other brothers idly.

"Gabe, don't you think that's enough harassment towards Michael?" he'd say. _Dad is always very stressed. And somewhat neurotic._

Raphael was different form both of them. Practically everything bored him, Cas thought. He was in college and had a part time job as a sales assistant in Walmart, which he loathed. At that moment he trying to eat in peace, but bothered by Gabriel whose elbow kept taking up the table space as he was pelting stuff at Micheal.

Then there was Lucifer, who none of the family were supposed to talk about and currently not present at the dinner table.

"Hester's taking all the juice!" complained Ion.

"No I'm not! I'm only giving thsome to Virgil!" she replied. Hester's missing baby teeth gave her a lisp.

"Poto!" shrieked Hael, who vocabulary at that age was limited and mostly made up.

"Shut up, all of you!" shouted Rachel. Virgil started crying.

"Now look what you've done..." sighed Uriel. Over at the other end of the table, Gabriel and dad started arguing.

"Could you pass the water, Cas- oops!..." Alfie had reached for the bottle too fast and it was knocked over, spilling a lot of it on the table. Anna already stood up to get a cloth to dry it with.

"I need a napkin!" screamed Nathaniel over everyone else.

Dinners were usually so apocalyptic. Why couldn't they just behave like a normal family? Castiel didn't really feel like eating after all, so without notice, he switched on his phone under the table.

New messages: none

* * *

AN: Thanks for the follows and stuff. There are just some points I'd like to share before writing the next chapter:  
I wasn't entirely sure what town I should set this story in or whether I should make one up, so I just decided to settle with Lawrence (or somewhere near it) cause that's where the Winchesters would have lived anyway if Mary hadn't been killed by the yellow-eyed demon. (She's still dead in this AU, but at least she died in a _normal_ fire.)  
Call me lazy, but 'Liberton High School' is made up because I don't know anything about Kansas or it's towns. In fact, I'm not even sure if I know anything about America, so I had to look up how the school system works. You guys are weird.  
Following that, you've guessed that I am probably not an American writer, so I've tried to use American colloquialism and terminology to the best of my ability. Any British spelling of words which should be American are accidental.  
Finally, Castiel and his family are called the 'Shurleys' because their dad is *drum roll* Chuck. I'm not even sure if Chuck is God, but since that's a popular theory or whatever, I decided to roll with it.

And I guess that's all for now! Remember to review, you crazy kids.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: My bad for the really long wait. Procrastinating is one of my lesser known talents.

* * *

Tuesday 3rd of September

"Dude, are you racing me?" asked Dean as he was running on the track.

"No, I'm simply just faster than you." said Cas who had caught up with him.

"Like Hell." he scoffed.

"Are you boys even trying?" said Bela Talbot as she passed both of them.

Last week, Gym was cancelled due to Coach Stuart's appointment with his psychiatrist. However, things were up and running again by today, along with many of the students who were to do three laps around the outdoor track as a warm up. Bela's lithe and energetic body easily made her the fastest runner of the class, followed by the competitive Dean and Castiel. _What a show off_, Dean thought as he was giving it 120% to be faster than her.

After everyone had finished, Coach Stuart dumped two bags of hockey sticks and orange balls and said "Mortimer, Walker, you pick the teams and then play. Don't talk to me unless its something important." Then he sat down on a foldable lawn chair while using a laptop that he had brought with him and payed no attention to his class for the rest of the lesson.

Tessa Mortimer was a girl with black hair and an extreme realist, if not pessimism to some people. Dean once had a crush on her in the 7th grade and although she was pleasant enough to him, she shattered his little hope of a romance with her. Since Tessa was picking a team, Dean knew she would choose the people more athletically adept for hockey over her friends. Gordon Walker would be the same, Dean assumed, considering his vicious reputation for sports.

Everyone took a stick. No chance of getting picked last, this year. Despite what people might say, Dean had gotten a lot fitter over the summer and so folded his arms so the team captains could see his 'muscles'. He was a little offended, though, when Castiel was picked on a team before him: Tessa's. After a couple more people, Gordon had chosen Dean for his team. _Looks like we're on opposing forces, Cas._

"Bela, you take the goals." said Gordon. Bela complied with no comment. No point in arguing with this guy, Dean thought.

After all eighteen class members were picked for a team, everyone went to their own side of the field and the game commenced. Within that moment, Dean had sprinted to the center and already stole the ball from the opposing team. Bringing it further to the goal now, he was nearly stopped by several players, but was too fast for them to take the ball from him. _Hell yeah!_ He took a swing with his hockey stick and launched the orange ball into the back of the other team's net. Good thing that Ed Zeddmoore couldn't deflect a ball to save his life. First point to Team Walker.

It was returned to the center of the field. Again, Dean would run and steal it before anyone else could, meandering his way up the pitch to bring home another point. However, someone had tripped him up by placing their own hockey stick in front of his feet, causing Dean to fall unceremoniously onto the grass. _Who the fuck did that?_ He got up to look for the swindler who tripped him, and lo and behold, who else but Castiel Shurley, already leading the ball to the opposite goal.

Score. Cas had successfully flung the ball passed Bela Talbot, who didn't anticipate the force of Castiel's swing. _Son of a bitch._ First point to Team Mortimer. The ball was brought back to the center.

"I'm pretty sure that was against the rules." said Dean as he passed him on their way to their own sides. Someone on Team Walker tried to get the attention of the coach, but he had earphones in and couldn't hear anything outside of what he was listening to.

"Well, I see the coach doesn't mind." Cas replied with his head tilted back slightly as if to challenge Dean. This guy doesn't like to lose, he thought.

"You wanna play dirty, then? I'll play dirty." he said. They brushed shoulders as they went passed each other and the play continued.

There was no one on the field who were quite as competitive as these two at that moment. This time it was Castiel who stole the ball first. Dean was briefly left in confusion when his opponent rushed past him, rolling it as fast as he could along the grass. Gordon Walker was fiercely determined to take it from him, but Cas hit ball in between his legs then caught it afterwards. He was about to take a swing, but Dean whacked his foot with the bottom of his stick and that put Cas out of balance when hitting the ball. Bela was able to deflect the shot. (although, it nearly broke her own stick in half).

"You're both children." she sighed.

Bela passed it to Gordon who then tried to pass it to Dean. However, before he could reach it, Castiel took it from him and swung a shot so forcefully, the ball was able to reach the back of net from half way across the field. Two points for Team Mortimer. This kid just doesn't stop, Dean thought. _Come on, focus!_

The next round was his for sure. He had used the same trick that Cas used to get the ball pass Gordon by hitting it between his legs in the previous shot. This time, Dean had used it on Cas. _Time to bring it home_! He fired a shot into the corner of the goal and saw Ed the goalkeeper's distress. Two all. It was neck and neck and the next point was the winning one.

In fact, everyone was distressed because it seemed like Dean and Castiel were the ones playing the entire game. A few people tried to contact Coach Stuart, but as expected, he wanted nothing to do with the game play and continued to watch something on Netflix. Everyone went back to their positions and the two passed each other again.

"Still think you can keep up?" said Dean.

"I'm practically falling asleep." replied Cas.

Once it was in the center, the two players headed for the ball like unstoppable forces colliding into each other. They didn't notice it, but every other player had stopped trying to intervene between them. A couple of them had even stopped playing and headed for the stands where they could spend the rest of the period uninjured. There wasn't an entity strong enough in this world to separate this battle of hockey sticks and shoving each other to get a ball into opposite goals. Dean had managed to get the upper hand and ran his way to Team Mortimer's goal, but then Castiel tackled him to prevent him from taking a shot. The whole affair turned into a fight and poor Ed Zeddmoore was on the verge of tears.

"Son of a bitch, let go of me so I can kick your ass into the next continent!"

"Give me back my stick, you... assbutt!"

At which point, Tessa Mortimer had enough and strode to the coach in his chair so that she could unplug his earphones. Looks like 'Downton Abbey' could wait as she pointed to brawl that was happening on the field.

"What the hell?" he said. Coach Stuart put down his laptop and hurried over to separate the two players. "Stop fighting! Jesus Christ..."

With enough luck he was able to pull one away and stand in between them. Red faced and disheveled, Dean and Cas glared at each other.

"Winchester! Please explain what on Earth is going on!" demanded the coach as he turned to Dean.

"Just a healthy game of hockey, sir." he answered as he caught his breath while still staring daggers at Cas.

"And you!... Wait, who the hell are you?" asked Coach Stuart because he never even bothered to check if there were going to be any new students in his class.

"Um... I'm new." said Cas.

"Uh... right. Both of you, detention this lunch time," he said. "For raising my blood pressure more than it needs to be!"

Gym class had been dismissed for both of them. They made their way to the boys locker rooms where the were to change and spend the rest of the period in the stands at least ten feet away from each other. While changing Dean felt that he should say something.

"Sorry for... you know, being so competitive and hitting you and stuff." he said.

"I was the one who tackled you. I should be apologizing." Cas replied.

"Hey, its all cool. Let's just remember never to play hockey on opposing teams ever again." Dean joked and they both laughed. "You were really good out there, though."

"Thanks. You were too."

"My face is going to hurt like a bitch, though. Maybe they should make hockey sticks out of softer material..."

* * *

Although Castiel was familiar with the bore of sitting in silence, he had hoped that he wouldn't land himself in detention within a month of starting his new school. _Guess not a lot has changed, then._ He looked over at Dean, whose head lay on the desk as if he was sleeping... or maybe he was sleeping. Cas just did nothing but listened to the dull sound of the classroom clock ticking away and filling the silence...

His phone beeped. "Cell phones off." said Coach Stuart subsequently. Cas apologized, but since the coach wasn't paying attention, he decided to read the text under his desk without attracting too much notice.

¦ did you beat up dean in gym? (it's charlie btw)

¦ I don't remember giving you my number.

He replied. Good thing the volume on his phone was now off.

¦ that's because i unlocked sam's phone when he wasn't looking and got it from him (sorry)

¦ Yes, we almost got into a fight, but it was nothing serious .

¦ almost? i heard he has a big bruise on his face

¦ Well, maybe we did fight, but like I said, it was nothing serious  
¦ We were on opposing teams in hockey.

¦ yikes! :B  
¦ so was the hockey game that bad?

¦ Just a little heated.  
¦ I'm sitting in detetnion right now.  
¦ *detention  
¦ Dean is here, too.

¦ i need to text him but he's not answering

¦ His phone is probably switched off.  
¦ I can pass my phone to him, if you want.

¦ cool, don't get caught though :P

Cas looked at Dean again, but his head was still on the school desk that was one between them. Coach Stuart was doing paperwork, but there wasn't anything to certify that he wouldn't catch him passing a cell phone to Dean.

"Dean." he whispered very quietly. He didn't hear him. Asleep, maybe? He whispered his name a little louder this time and Dean looked up. _Ow,_ Cas thought. His bruise looked a little darker now. He outstretched his arm to pass the phone to Dean, who quickly (and silently) took it from him. Mission accomplished, then? He supposed that was the least he could do for giving him such an ugly face injury.

After lunch when detention had ended, he came across Balthazar in the hallway.

"You look positively terrible," he said after seeing the scratch below his ear and various other pieces of proof from the brawl. "And I suppose detention wasn't so good, either?"

"Just boring. How about you?"

"Thrill seeking as always," he replied sarcastically. "Rather much like yourself. I kind of expected something like this to happen."

"I'm not a thrill seeker." stated Cas.

"But thrills seem to find you, for some reason. Truth be told, I'm a little envious." He laughed. Cas didn't though. "Oh, don't take it too hard. You're most likely just destined for a life of drama and danger."

"Funny, I don't have the same foresight as you do."

"Don't blame you. I'm probably one of a kind." The bell rang. Even though he and Dean both apologized to each other, Cas still wondered if the fight would put their possible friendship in the balance. Other thoughts crossed his mind like that boy's infatuation for Anna and how Cas felt he could make it up to him by helping him get together with her. But could it work? ...Course it could, anyone could see that they would make a great pair. The only inconsistency in this theory was that she was already dating someone else.

* * *

¦ dean? deeean?

¦ whose this?

¦ charlie  
¦ cas said he could pass his phone to you

¦ thank god, mine's out of battery and I'm bored out of my mind here.  
¦ detention, y'know.

¦ i've heard you ought to stop picking fights ^_^

¦ yeah, ha ha.  
¦ but what's sport without a little fight now and then, right?  
¦ besides, that guy is too good for his own good

¦ listen, you know how i keep saying we should start a club?

¦ oh crap...

¦ what

¦ don't you dare say it.

¦ ...  
¦ hockey club

¦ charlie, no

¦ wHY NOT?  
¦ you and cas have clearly demonstrated your skills in that area and i think it would be fun  
¦ sam and the others will do it too. they all agree on the club thing

¦ do you even LIKE hockey?

¦ well i could like it

¦ charlie...

¦ well so what! at least it would give us all an excuse to hang out for once (what with us being in different years and all)

¦ is that was this is?  
¦ well maybe you have a point...  
¦ okay, lets say we do start this hockey club, how many people are actually going to join it?

¦ so far, 7  
¦ do you have any other people in mind who'd like to join?

¦ yeah, 1.  
¦ don't know if she likes that sort of thing, but worth a shot.

¦ maybe cas knows someone

¦ doubt it, but whatever.  
¦ the more the merrier.

¦ so it's agreed? were starting a club?

¦ yeah alright, you got through to me in the end.  
¦ i'll ask coach stuarts permission for it later.

¦ no need i already asked and he said it was okay  
¦ anyway i'd love to chat but i've got things to do now that this is going down  
¦ you can give cas his phone back. later bitches! (enjoy the rest of detention ^_^)

Dean reread those texts after school while he was waiting for his dad to pick him and Sam up. _Late as usual..._ he silently commented. When he discussed the hockey team idea to Sam, it was old news to him. His little brother had already told Charlie he'd join. Their high school had never had a hockey team before, so this was a make it or break it moment in the yearbooks.

"Hey, it's Anna." When Sam pointed her out, Dean's heart skipped a beat. She was just leaving the student's entrance and making her way to the parking lot. What made her so late in leaving? Dean already dropped his school bag.

"Could you look after this?" he asked. Sam nodded.

"Don't take long, though." he said. "Dad could be here any minute."

"I'm willing to take my chances."

He walked all the way to where Anna was. Her hair was tied up after a period of gym. _That is so cute,_ he thought. She should wear it like that more often. Dean sighed. He needed to stop being so lovesick. Anna had a boyfriend! If he were to pine for her like this more often, he'd turn into one of those clingy anime boys. (Not that he would _ever_ admit to watching anime, so that was a comparison he could only share with himself.)

"Dean, hi!" she said, flashing her smile that was now infamous to him. "You're still here?"

"Yeah, my dad picks me up from school and he's usually pretty late, so..." he began. "What about you?"

"Studying. My house is always so loud, so the library is more or less perfect for me to concentrate." she said.

"I suppose your house would be quite loud... Not that I mean it in a bad way! I mean, brothers and sisters and all..." he quickly added.

"It's fine. What you just said is pretty accurate." Followed by a moment of awkward silence. Dean looked at the sky as if to check the weather when she then spoke again. "Is your house loud?"

"Not really... It's just me, Sammy and dad." he replied. Then somehow, he knew where this conversation was going.

"Oh... so, um... do you have a mom? Sorry! That must seem rude of me to ask! You don't have to answer..."

"No, my mom died when I was four." said Dean. _Why did you have to ask that? Now you're going to make me feel uncomfortable like everyone else..._

"I'm sorry." she said as she looked down a little.

"It's fine."

"I don't have a mom either," she continued. "She died four months ago."

_What?_ The words that came out of Anna's mouth shocked Dean and his eyes widened a little. He felt a pretty stupid now after being annoyed at Anna for bringing up the topic of his mother, when her own mother had died only a few months ago.

"Oh god, sorry, I didn't know." he recovered. "You lost her pretty soon-"

"It's okay. Really." she said. She didn't sound okay, though. If anything; bitter. Great, now _he_ was making her uncomfortable. "...I guess we've got something that we share now, huh?"

What kind of point was that? Then he remembered. The only person who Dean thought could understand what he was going through was his brother, and sometimes his dad. Now that he and Anna both revealed their tragedies of losing someone close to them, they could understand each other a little better now. For once, the infatuation Dean had for Anna was replaced by a whole new level of respect for her. And then very suddenly, Dean realized with horror that fourteen other Shurley children were left with that same understanding and void in their life. That included Castiel. Dean would never have guessed this about either of the siblings in the duration they had stayed here. From what he now knew, their family wasn't exactly perfect and apple-pie-living like he pictured it.

"Look, um..." Dean didn't know where to start in this second awkward silence. "Maybe you'd... like to study with me sometime?"

Anna was surprised at his suggestion and moved the hair in front of her face behind her ear. _A sign that she likes me?_ Dean wondered. Or a sign that she was uncomfortable with the idea of spending more time with him?

"Sure." she agreed. "How does tomorrow sound? Just after school."

"That sounds great." Then he remembered something else that he was going to ask her. "Have you-"

Before Dean could continue, he heard Sams voice calling him. When he looked back, his dad's car was parked and ready to pick him up. Looks like their conversation would be cut short.

"I have to go." he said.

"Okay then, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah..."

And so he gave her a wave and headed to his car. Where, no doubt, his dad would have some things to say to him. Sam handed his school bag to him once he got there.

"In the car, boys." said their dad.

Once they got in, they were on the road. "Don't make me wait like that, Dean. You had me worried." he continued. That was rich coming from someone who was half an hour late to pick them up from school, Dean commented, but not out loud. His brother didn't keep comments to himself, though.

"You were pretty late yourself, dad." said Sam.

"Hours are tight, son, you know that." replied their dad. "And on another topic, why were you waiting alone?"

"Because Dean was talking to someone. Only for a few minutes, anyway."

"Sorry." Dean apologized. He didn't say anything after that. Better just to comply with his orders than argue... He was still thinking about Anna, though, and how she must be dealing with all the crap in her life right now. He began to wonder if her mother's death was part of the reason why her family moved. It wouldn't surprise him.

The same journey home was shorter than usual, and as soon as he got home, he landed himself onto the old couch in the garage that his parents bought cheaply in a charity sale. One of the few remnants from the fire of his old home and a place Dean could go to if he wanted to be alone. He laid face down for a few moments then scrambled for his phone in his pockets to check for any new messages received.

2 new messages

The first was from Garth. Just to say that he was all down for the hockey team and will try to get more members. The second text was from Castiel. Also about the hockey team. It read:

¦ Charlie told me about the hockey team. I couldn't help but laugh since our playing today inspired it.  
¦ I've decided to join. And I hear you have, too.

Somehow, imagining Cas laughing seemed foreign to Dean now knowing the information Anna told him today. He texted back, hoping that the recipient's phone wasn't off.

¦ yeah, I haven't really joined any clubs until now, so 'you never know until you try' right?

A minute passed before Cas's reply.

¦ Absolutely. I think joining a club is a good way for me to fit in at this school.  
¦ I'll ask Balthazar if he would like to join. (Although, somehow, I can't imagine it. Lol!)

Dean, also, couldn't imagine that sour grape with an ego to join any clubs, let alone the hockey team.

¦ good luck with that.  
¦ btw, your texting is getting better. less spelling mistakes.

¦ Thank you.  
¦ I haven't had many friends in the past to practice with.

_Damn it. I don't need to feel anymore guilt for this guy..._

¦ listen, I ran into your sister after school.  
¦ she says she was studying there because your house is pretty noisy.

¦ It's true. She especially finds it hard to spend time at home.

¦ and you don't?

¦ I don't mind the noise.  
¦ It makes me feel like I'm not alone.

_Well, I suppose we both know what that feels like... _Dean didn't know why he was typing this next.

¦ also, we talked about other things.  
¦ like our parents.  
¦ and how you lost your mom only a few months ago.

¦ She told you?  
¦ Well, I suppose someone would know eventually...

¦ it's fine.  
¦ i've lost my mom, too.  
¦ so,  
¦ I suppose I know how you feel?  
¦ I also won't tell anyone, if you don't want me to.  
¦ it probably must be pretty hard for you  
¦ sorry, I must sound like a douche bag right now, but if you ever want to talk about it, then you know i'm here.

¦ That's kind of you, Dean.  
¦ The truth is, my father couldn't support all of us with the job he had before, so we moved here.  
¦ I havn't really told anyone outside our family this before.  
¦ *haven't

¦ hey, there's no shame in that.  
¦ my dad works 6 days a week to get food on the table.  
¦ it's not you'd call a high paying job  
¦ once i'm old enough, i'll be able to pull my weight and help

¦ I see. Those of us who are old enough in my family are doing the same thing.  
¦ Except for Anna. She wants to lead an independent life once she leaves high school.  
¦ I suppose this is why she doesn't like spending time at home.  
¦ And also why she and our father don't get along very well.

¦ i didn't know that.

¦ It's refreshing to talk about these things to someone who doesn't already know.  
¦ You're a good listener. And I think Anna would be lucky to have someone like you as her boyfriend.

¦ you mean it?

¦ :)

¦ thanks, dude.  
¦ shame she's already seeing someone, though. right?

¦ Yes.  
¦ But like you said, you shouldn't lose hope.

¦ sure hope not.  
¦ heh  
¦ i'll let you get back to whatever it was that you were doing. see you tomorrow.

¦ Same.

* * *

Wednesday 4th of September

"You seem down, today." said Meg, peering from the seat behind Cas.

"Do I?" he asked. "I didn't think it was apparent to anyone."

Not a lot of people had arrived to Math class yet. The seating arrangement made it fairly easy for Castiel and Meg to talk to each other.

"Should you be talking about it?" she asked in return.

"No," he answered. "It's not important."

"Fine by me, then." They didn't talk for the rest of the lesson and throughout the day, Cas remained in a stoic mood.

At lunch, Charlie had gathered the usual group of Dean, Sam, Benny, Jo, Garth and Cas to discuss the beginnings of the school's first mixed hockey team. There, it was decided that Dean would be the captain (no complaints from him). The team just needed at least four more members to play, though. This was the task the seven of them had to carry out by asking around and putting up flyers that Charlie had designed herself, which were rather good, noted Cas.

When asked about joining, Balthazar laughed, followed by: "Oh, you're not joking, are you?" After much thought, he decided that he'd do it, but only for Cas's sake. That's eight members now. Three to go. A lot of other people reclined the offer, but he knew one other person who might be willing to join so he sought her out.

"There's a group of us who are starting a hockey team." he told her. "Just thought you'd like to know."

"That's nice..." said Anna. She sounded pretty apathetic while facing her locker. "If you're asking me to join, this isn't really a good time."

"What's wrong?" Cas inquired.

"Eli broke up with me last night." she confessed.

"Oh... I'm sorry," said Cas like he didn't know. "Well... maybe this is why you should join. To take your mind of it."

"I'll think about it, then." she replied, putting her books away.

The plan was already in motion. It wasn't one of Cas's most benevolent ideas, sending texts to Eli pretending that it was Anna. In fact, he felt pretty dirty for it. But Anna and Eli's long distance relationship was already slowly deteriorating. The last time they saw each other was a month ago and the texts they sent were few. Cas knew this from looking through Anna's phone, and yes, he felt pretty bad for it for hacking it, but could see that his sister's relationship was not going to last. So he decided to speed up the process.

Besides, he was pretty certain that Anna knew it was falling apart too from the fact that she wasn't all that distraught about the break up. So he was actually doing her a favor, right? The whole affair was for Dean's benefit anyway, so it was almost like killing two birds with one stone. He told himself this when he started to feel guilty about what he had done. _I suppose playing matchmaker doesn't come without a price_, he thought.

* * *

The library was nearly empty after school. Dean had texted his dad saying that he would be staying late to help a friend with homework, who would then drop him off back at the house. He still found it annoying that his family only had one car to share, and it was usually his dad who used it the most. _But whatever, dad doesn't care how I get back, as long as I get back..._

"So is it math?" asked Anna.

"What?" Dean awoke from his thoughts.

"Your homework." She pointed to the work in front of him. _Oh yeah_, he realized. They were supposed to be studying together. Anna had already highlighted and annotated half of her chemistry sheet.

"Yeah, sorry." he said. Dean had only finished one question.

"We can take a break if you like." she suggested.

"Best idea I've heard all day." he remarked while turning his seat towards her. "You know, I was going to ask you something yesterday."

"Hm?"

"Well, me and my friends have started this hockey club and-"

"Yes, Cas told me." she interrupted.

"Oh, and... are you going to join?" he asked apprehensively.

"Well... I said I'd think about it. Earlier today, I had some stuff going on, so I wasn't sure if I'd be up to it," she said. "But now that I've thought about, I think it'll be fun and well... take my mind of things."

"What things?"

"My boyfriend broke up with me. It doesn't matter." Anna then gave a small laugh. "You know, now that I think about it, he was pretty stupid... Maybe I'll get over it."

"Yeah, he must have been pretty stupid to dump you."said Dean. Anna smiled again. In that moment, he swore he could hear some sort of choir in the back of his mind with cries of 'she's available!' and 'you have a chance!'. In the midst of that, he forgot to pick up the conversation again. "So is that a yes? You'll join the hockey team?"

"Yes."

Nine members found, and probably the only new recruit that matters, thought Dean. There must be some sort of angel out there making things go his way this week... or you know, it's maybe it's that new kid who might have put a word in there. But it doesn't matter, _I'm one step closer. _The rest of the study session was filled with thoughts of he and Anna and very little Math homework

* * *

AN: This isn't really the direction I wanted this story to go originally, but I think it's going to shape up. Sorry for not giving Cas as much pov as Dean in this chapter! (but at least it was a pretty long chapter. for me, anyway)  
The original draft of this had emojis in the texts, but the format or something wouldn't allow it, so ヽ(ー_ー )ノ


End file.
